[solved]Week 12 - Integrating End-of-Seminar Project

Individual Assignment (End-of-Seminar Project) (8%)

Each student is to
Identify an important managerial challenge facing his or her work or other organization.
Develop a plan that integrates effective financial and operational decision making to successfully meet this challenge and improve organizational
performance, in a succinct report that includes an executive summary.

More Information:

What is a succinct report? Could it be 10 pages or less? One reads that IBM decision papers are limited to that length, and we all recall the single-sheet Ringo
Sho approach to important decisions at Toyota.
As to overall plan format, I-B-C (http://polaris.umuc.edu/~jstewart/StewartWebSite/writingt.htm) is, recommended for your consideration.
A results-filled executive summary (ES) should lead off the plan. This link is to "How to Write an Executive Summary" in Course Resources. You may also
benefit from a review of the files in Course Resources specific to Writing Guidelines and the files showing proper APA citations.
Your individual paper must be posted in your assignment folder by the due date. Remember that there are NO EXTENSIONS of this final due date.

Writing Tips

http://polaris.umuc.edu/~jstewart/StewartWebSite/writingt.htm 1/2

Tips for Effective Business Writing

Here are some basic suggestions that I hope will increase the effectiveness of your writing in business and other

management environments

First, decide the purpose of your writing. It is usually either to inform or to convince (persuade)
You should almost always follow the time-tested "formula" of Introduction, Body, Conclusion
Use the Introduction to clearly state your purpose or position, and to give a "roadmap" (outline) to the rest of your paper

In the Body, give your pieces of information or arguments one by one, setting them off from one another with meaning-
filled (think use of verbs) section headings if this helps comprehension - and such headings almost always do

Provide some concrete (specific) examples to support your arguments
It is usually better to develop a few good examples - explaining them as necessary - than simply to list some large number
of examples only by name
Summarize what you've said in the Conclusion, avoiding putting new material there which should have gone into the Body
In the Conclusion, leave your reader with something to remember, perhaps a "lesson learned", a "takeaway" or a concrete
recommendation for action
If you use an Executive Summary, remember to place it at the beginning of the paper and to include all key results in it
Don't forget to spell- and grammar-check! (Not only your computer software, but also a friend or spouse's review should
be helpful here)